1.
Homewood, Alabama
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Homewood is a city in southeastern Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. It is a suburb of Birmingham, located on the side of Red Mountain due south of the city center. Its estimated 2015 population is 25,708, Homewood is located at 33°28′6″N 86°48′29″W. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the city has an area of 8.3 square miles. The city, along with the rest of Jefferson County, lies atop iron, coal, Shades Creek, which is part of the Cahaba River system, runs through Homewood. As of the census of 2000, there were 25,043 people,10,688 households, the population density was 3,014.7 people per square mile. There were 11,494 housing units at a density of 1,383.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 79. 75% White,15. 30% Black or African-American,0. 20% Native American,2. 57% Asian,0. 03% Pacific Islander,1. 00% from other races, and 1. 16% from two or more races. 2. 80% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,36. 2% of all households were made up of individuals and 9. 4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the family size was 2.87. In the city, the population was out with 20. 3% under the age of 18,17. 8% from 18 to 24,34. 0% from 25 to 44,17. 3% from 45 to 64. The median age was 30 years, for every 100 females there were 86.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.9 males, the median income for a household in the city was $55,431, and the median income for a family was $70,256. Males had an income of $40,969 versus $34,694 for females. The per capita income for the city was $25,491, about 4. 4% of families and 7. 6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4. 5% of those under age 18 and 4. 3% of those age 65 or over. As of the census of 2010, there were 25,167 people,10,092 households, the population density was 3,032.2 people per square mile. There were 11,385 housing units at a density of 1,371.7 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 69. 696% White,17. 3% Black or African-American,0. 2% Native American,2. 2% Asian,0. 0% Pacific Islander,5, 000% from other races, and 1. 4% from two or more races
2.
NCAA Division I Football Championship
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The NCAA Division I Football Championship is an American college football tournament played each year to determine the champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. Prior to 2006, the game was known as the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship, the FCS is the highest division in college football to hold a playoff tournament sanctioned by the NCAA to determine its champion. The four-team playoff system used by the Bowl Subdivision is not sanctioned by the NCAA, the reigning national champions are the James Madison Dukes, who had previously won in 2004. When Division I-AA was formed for football in 1978, the playoffs included just four teams, in 1982 the I-AA playoffs were expanded to 12 teams, with each of the top four seeds receiving a first-round bye and a home game in the quarterfinals. In its ninth season of 1986, the I-AA playoffs were expanded again to a 16-team format, eight conference champions received automatic bids, with the remaining eight bids available on an at-large basis. The field is set the Sunday before Thanksgiving and play begins that weekend. The top four teams are seeded, however, the matchups are not strictly set up by these seedings as geographic considerations are taken into account to minimize travel. In April 2008 the NCAA announced that the field would again expand to include 20 teams beginning in 2010. At the same time, it announced that the number of conferences receiving automatic bids would increase to 10, the structure then adopted included eight teams playing in four first round games. The four first round advance to the second Round of Sixteen where they play the top four seeds. The playoffs expanded to 24 teams beginning with the 2013 season, the tournament has historically been played in November and December, with the 2010 expansion to a 20-team field, the championship game moved from December to January. The title game is now played in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas at Toyota Stadium, the original contract with Frisco began in the 2010 season and ran through the 2012 season. The contract has since been extended twice, first through the 2015 season, three Football Championship Subdivision conferences usually do not participate in the tournament. The teams that make the playoffs are determined by the FCS Playoff Selection Committee, the current committee chairman is Mark Wilson. The others who serve on the committee are Chuck Burch, Troy Dannen, Brian Hutchinson, Richard Johnson, Nathan Pine, Marty Scarano, Paul Schlickmann, Dr. Brad Teague. ++ The MEAC Champion, since 2015, forgoes its automatic bid to allow its champion to participate in the Celebration Bowl, non-champions are eligible for at-large bids. % The SWAC abstains from the tournament to allow for a longer regular season, an in-conference championship game. † Known as University of Louisiana at Monroe since 1999, ‡ Now Toyota Stadium * Toyota Stadium capacity reduced due to construction ^ Now a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision
3.
Southern Conference
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The Southern Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision, member institutions are located in the states of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The Southern Conference ranks as the fifth-oldest major college conference in the United States. Among conferences currently in operation, the Big Ten and Missouri Valley are indisputably older, the Pac-12 Conference did not operate under its current charter until 1959, but claims the history of the Pacific Coast Conference, founded in 1915, as its own. The Southwest Conference was founded in 1914, but ceased operation in 1996 once the Big 12 Conference began play, the Southern Conference is considered one of the stronger football conferences in the Football Championship Subdivision and is considered a mid-major conference in basketball. In 2015, Furman defeated UCF 16–15 and The Citadel topped South Carolina 23–22 for their win over the Gamecocks in the past three meetings. The SoCon also frequently sees multiple teams selected to participate in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, talks of a new conference for southern athletics had started as early as fall of 1920. The conference was formed on February 25,1921 in Atlanta as fourteen member institutions split from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association, in 1922, six more universities – Florida, LSU, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tulane, and Vanderbilt joined the conference. The first year of competition for the conference was in 1922, the new rules banned freshman play. Later additions included Sewanee, Virginia Military Institute, and Duke, the SoCon is particularly notable for having spawned two other major conferences. In 1932, the 13 schools located south and west of the Appalachians all departed the SoCon to form the Southeastern Conference, in 1953, seven additional schools withdrew from the SoCon to form the Atlantic Coast Conference. The SoCon became the first league to hold a basketball tournament to decide a conference champion. Although first played in 1921, it did not become official until 1922, held at the Municipal Auditorium in Atlanta from February 24 – March 2,1922, the first meeting was won by North Carolina who defeated non-member Mercer in the Finals 40-25. The SoCon Basketball Tournament continues as the nations oldest conference tournament, the next-oldest tournament overall is the SEC Mens Basketball Tournament, founded in 1933, but that event was suspended after its 1952 edition and did not resume until 1979. The all-sports membership changed to 10 schools in 2014 following the departure of Appalachian State, Davidson, Elon, and Georgia Southern, plus the arrival of East Tennessee State, Mercer, the current football membership stands at nine. UNC Greensboro does not sponsor football, while ETSU, which relaunched its previously dormant football program in 2015, on January 9,2014, the SoCon and Atlantic Sun Conference announced a new alliance in lacrosse that took effect with the 2014–15 school year. Under its terms, sponsorship of mens lacrosse shifted from the ASUN to the SoCon, bellarmine, which had announced it would join the ASUN for mens lacrosse for the 2015 season, instead joined the SoCon. The most recent additions to the associate membership came with the start of the 2016–17 school year, Full members Full members Other Conference Other Conference Due to space limitations, one portion of Washington and Lees affiliation history is not indicated in the table
4.
American football
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The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs, or plays, or else they turn over the football to the opposing team, if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs. Points are primarily scored by advancing the ball into the teams end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponents goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins, American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of association football and rugby football. The first game of American football was played on November 6,1869, during the latter half of the 1870s, colleges playing association football switched to the Rugby Union code, which allowed carrying the ball. American football as a whole is the most popular sport in the United States, Professional football and college football are the most popular forms of the game, with the other major levels being high school and youth football. As of 2012, nearly 1.1 million high school athletes and 70,000 college athletes play the sport in the United States annually, almost all of them men, in the United States, American football is referred to as football. The term football was established in the rulebook for the 1876 college football season. The terms gridiron or American football are favored in English-speaking countries where other codes of football are popular, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, American football evolved from the sports of association football and rugby football. What is considered to be the first American football game was played on November 6,1869 between Rutgers and Princeton, two college teams, the game was played between two teams of 25 players each and used a round ball that could not be picked up or carried. It could, however, be kicked or batted with the feet, hands, head or sides, Rutgers won the game 6 goals to 4. Collegiate play continued for years in which matches were played using the rules of the host school. Representatives of Yale, Columbia, Princeton and Rutgers met on October 19,1873 to create a set of rules for all schools to adhere to. Teams were set at 20 players each, and fields of 400 by 250 feet were specified, Harvard abstained from the conference, as they favored a rugby-style game that allowed running with the ball. An 1875 Harvard-Yale game played under rugby-style rules was observed by two impressed Princeton athletes and these players introduced the sport to Princeton, a feat the Professional Football Researchers Association compared to selling refrigerators to Eskimos. Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Columbia then agreed to play using a form of rugby union rules with a modified scoring system. These schools formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, although Yale did not join until 1879, the introduction of the snap resulted in unexpected consequences. Prior to the snap, the strategy had been to punt if a scrum resulted in bad field position, however, a group of Princeton players realized that, as the snap was uncontested, they now could hold the ball indefinitely to prevent their opponent from scoring. In 1881, both teams in a game between Yale-Princeton used this strategy to maintain their undefeated records, each team held the ball, gaining no ground, for an entire half, resulting in a 0-0 tie
5.
Samford University
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Samford University is a private, coeducational, Christian university located in Homewood, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. In 1841, the university was founded as Howard College, Samford University is the 87th oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford University is Alabamas top-ranked private university, the university enrolls 5,471 students from 47 states and 29 countries. Samford University has been ranked for academic programs, value and affordability by Kiplingers Personal Finance. In 1841, Samford University was founded as Howard College in Marion, some of the land was donated by Reverend James H. DeVotie, who served on the Samford Board of Trustees for fifteen years and as its President for two years. The first financial gift, $4,000, was given by Julia Tarrant Barron, the university was established after the Alabama Baptist State Convention decided to build a school for men in Perry County, Alabama. The colleges first nine students began studies in January 1842 with a curriculum of language, literature. In October 1854, a fire destroyed all of the colleges property, one student and a slave owned by the Universitys president died in the fire. The slave, Harry, was buried in the city cemetery with a significant obelisk marking his grave. Harry was remembered as a faithful servant, while the college recovered from the fire, the Civil War began. Howard College was converted to a hospital by the Confederate government in 1863. During this time, the remaining faculty offered basic instruction to soldiers recovering at the hospital. For a short period after the war, federal troops occupied the college, Howard Colleges board of trustees accepted real estate and funding from the city of Birmingham, Alabama in 1887. In 1913, the college became fully and permanently coeducational, Howard College added its School of Music in 1914 and School of Education and Journalism the following year. The college introduced its Department of Pharmacy in 1927, at the time, it was the only program of its kind in the Southeastern United States. During World War II, Howard College hosted a V-12 Navy College Training Program, the number of veterans attending the college after the war boosted enrollment beyond capacity. In result, the college was moved to the Shades Valley in Homewood, the new campus opened in 1957. In 1961, the college acquired Cumberland School of Law, one of the nations oldest law schools, in addition to the law school, Howard College added a new school of business and reorganized to achieve university status in 1965
6.
Alabama
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Alabama is a state in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Alabama is the 30th-most extensive and the 24th-most populous of the U. S. states. At nearly 1,500 miles, Alabama has one of the nations longest navigable inland waterways, Alabama is nicknamed the Yellowhammer State, after the state bird. Alabama is also known as the Heart of Dixie and the Cotton State, the state tree is the longleaf pine, and the state flower is the camellia. The largest city by population is Birmingham, which has long been the most industrialized city, the oldest city is Mobile, founded by French colonists in 1702 as the capital of French Louisiana. From the American Civil War until World War II, Alabama, like many states in the southern U. S. suffered economic hardship, like other southern states, Alabama legislators disenfranchised African Americans and many poor whites at the turn of the century. Following World War II, Alabama grew as the economy changed from one primarily based on agriculture to one with diversified interests. The state economy in the 21st century is based on management, automotive, finance, manufacturing, aerospace, mineral extraction, healthcare, education, retail, in the Alabama language, the word for a person of Alabama lineage is Albaamo. The word Alabama is believed to have come from the Alabama language, the words spelling varies significantly among historical sources. As early as 1702, the French called the tribe the Alibamon, other spellings of the name have included Alibamu, Alabamo, Albama, Alebamon, Alibama, Alibamou, Alabamu, Allibamou. Sources disagree on the words meaning, some scholars suggest the word comes from the Choctaw alba and amo. The meaning may have been clearers of the thicket or herb gatherers, the state has numerous place names of Native American origin. However, there are no correspondingly similar words in the Alabama language, an 1842 article in the Jacksonville Republican proposed it meant Here We Rest. This notion was popularized in the 1850s through the writings of Alexander Beaufort Meek, experts in the Muskogean languages have not found any evidence to support such a translation. Indigenous peoples of varying cultures lived in the area for thousands of years before the advent of European colonization, trade with the northeastern tribes by the Ohio River began during the Burial Mound Period and continued until European contact. The agrarian Mississippian culture covered most of the state from 1000 to 1600 AD, with one of its major centers built at what is now the Moundville Archaeological Site in Moundville, Alabama. This is the second-largest complex of the classic Middle Mississippian era, after Cahokia in present-day Illinois, Analysis of artifacts from archaeological excavations at Moundville were the basis of scholars formulating the characteristics of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. Contrary to popular belief, the SECC appears to have no links to Mesoamerican culture
7.
NCAA Division I
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Division I is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the United States. This level was called the University Division of the NCAA, in contrast to the lower level College Division. For football only, Division I was further subdivided in 1978 into Division I-A, Division I-AA, in 2006, Division I-A and I-AA were renamed Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision, respectively. FCS teams are allowed to award scholarships, a practice technically allowed. FBS teams also have to meet attendance requirements, while FCS teams do not need to meet minimum attendance requirements. Another difference is post season play, starting with the 2014 postseason, a four-team playoff called the College Football Playoff, replaced the previous one game championship format. Even so, Division I FBS football is still the only NCAA sport in which a champion is not determined by an NCAA-sanctioned championship event. All D-I schools must field teams in at least seven sports for men and seven for women or six for men and eight for women, with at least two team sports for each gender. Division I schools must meet minimum financial aid awards for their athletics program, Several other NCAA sanctioned minimums and differences that distinguish Division I from Divisions II and III. Each playing season has to be represented by each gender as well, there are contest and participant minimums for each sport, as well as scheduling criteria. Mens and womens teams have to play all but two games against Division I teams, for men, they must play one-third of all their contests in the home arena. The NCAA has limits on the financial aid each Division I member may award in each sport that the school sponsors. Equivalency sports, in which the NCAA limits the total financial aid that a school can offer in a sport to the equivalent of a set number of full scholarships. Roster limitations may or may not apply, depending on the sport, the term counter is also key to this concept. The NCAA defines a counter as an individual who is receiving financial aid that is countable against the aid limitations in a sport. The number of scholarships that Division I members may award in sport is listed below. In this table, scholarship numbers for head-count sports are indicated without a point, for equivalency sports, they are listed with a decimal point. An exception exists for players at non-scholarship FCS programs who receive aid in another sport, participants in basketball are counted in that sport, unless they also play football
8.
Seibert Stadium
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Seibert Stadium is a 6, 700-seat multi-purpose stadium in Homewood, Alabama. It is home to the Samford University Bulldogs college football team, the facility opened in 1958 and is named for F. Page Seibert, who in 1961, donated money for the completion of the stadium, the largest crowd in stadium history was in 1994 when over 11,000 showed up to see Steve McNair and Alcorn State. The four-level Bashinsky Press Tower was completed before the 1989 season, a partially covered film deck is located atop the facility, and an elevator serves all levels. At the same time, more than 200 theatre-type reserved seats were added in front of the press tower, aluminum seating replaced the original wooden seats. A scoreboard featuring an electronic message board was added before the 1994 season. In fall 2005, the grass surface was replaced with an LSR Blade Synthetic Surface. That surface was updated and replaced in the summer of 2014, in 2009, Samford added the Cooney Family Field House in the south end zone of the stadium. The field house holds a room, weight room, training room, equipment room, coaches offices
9.
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
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The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association was one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. Twenty-seven of the current Division I FBS football programs were members of this conference at some point, the SIAA was founded on December 21,1894, by Dr. William Dudley, a chemistry professor at Vanderbilt, at the Kimball House in Atlanta. Dudley was a member of the Vanderbilt Athletic Association, formed in 1886 with Dr. W. M. Baskerville as president, most students at Vanderbilt were members. The early sports played on the Vanderbilt campus were baseball, bicycling, Dudley was primarily responsible for the formation of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Sewanees opposition stopped it from occurring, the original members were Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Johns Hopkins, North Carolina, Sewanee, Vanderbilt, and Virginia. Virginia and North Carolina soon dropped before the inaugural 1895 season, the conference was originally formed for the development and purification of college athletics throughout the South. In 1903, a single-game football playoff occurred, but it seems to have been coordinated more so by the two competing schools than the conference itself, several other efforts over the years by individual schools to hold a conference title game fell through. Most SIAA titles claimed by schools in sports were actually more mythical in nature than officially sanctioned by the league. In 1915, a disagreement arose within the conference regarding the eligibility of freshman athletes, generally, the larger universities opposed the eligibility of freshman players, while the smaller schools favored it. As a result, some of the universities formed the Southern Intercollegiate Conference. At the conferences annual meeting on December 10,1920, the SIAA rejected proposals to ban freshman athletes, in protest, some schools that had voted in favor of the propositions immediately announced they would seek to form a new conference. In 1922, the Southern Conference underwent an expansion and added six more members, all at the expense of the SIAA, Florida, Louisiana State, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tulane, and Vanderbilt. With the departure of most of the colleges, the SIAA became a de facto small college conference in 1923. In the 1920s and 1930s, the SIAA increased its membership with the addition of additional small universities. The conference eventually disbanded in 1942 with the onset of American involvement in World War II, original charter members are denoted in boldface. Invited charter members are denoted with an asterisk, in the era in which the SIAA operated, teams tended to join in December, therefore, the first year of conference play in a given sport was often the following calendar year. Conference affiliations reflect those for the 2016–17 school year
10.
Ohio Valley Conference
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The Ohio Valley Conference is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA, the football programs compete in the Football Championship Subdivision. The OVC has 12 members,9 of which compete in football in the conference, the plan was put on hold due to World War II, but it was resurrected after the conclusion of the war. In 1948, the three schools joined with Louisville, Morehead State, and Evansville to form the Ohio Valley Conference, historically, the OVC was a pioneer in racial desegregation with Morehead State signing the conferences first black athlete, Marshall Banks, in 1958. The rest of the OVC soon followed in Morehead States wake, all other HBCUs in NCAA Division I are members of either the MEAC or SWAC, conferences made up entirely of HBCUs. The OVC has also been a leader in advancement of sports opportunities for women, since 2009, the OVC has been led by Commissioner Beth DeBauche, one of only six female commissioners for the thirty-two Division I conferences. When the national debate on the problem reached its apex in the mid-1990s, principles of fair play, ethical conduct and respect for ones opponent. Since then, the OVC has also introduced individual, team, founded by six schools, the expansions of 2007 and 2011 have brought the Ohio Valley Conference membership to twelve schools, the most in its history. In its first two years, the network provided well over 600,000 viewings of streamed live video of more than 1400 events. Note Morehead States football team competes in the Pioneer Football League, Notes Notes Columbus State dropped rifle after the 2014–15 school year. Austin Peays football team left the OVC after the 1996 season to compete as an NCAA D-I FCS Independent, after four seasons as an Independent, the team joined the Pioneer Football League in 2001, and remained there through the 2005 season. Austin Peay then returned to football, spending the 2006 season as an Independent before re-entering OVC football competition in 2007. Starting with the 2012–13 school year, the member schools divided into two divisions for those sports in which all schools compete. In the 2014–15 season, womens sports with twelve teams returned to a 12 team ranking, the Ohio Valley Conference currently offers championship competition in eighteen NCAA sanctioned sports, eight for men, nine for women, and rifle for mens, womens, and coed teams. All competing OVC schools have coed teams, and Tennessee-Martin has both a womens and a coed team, womens varsity sports not sponsored by the Ohio Valley Conference which are played by OVC schools ‡ = Rodeo is sanctioned by the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association, not the NCAA. While UT-Martin considers rodeo to be a varsity sport, Murray State operates their rodeo teams a club sport within the Hutson School of Agriculture, ¶ = Eastern Illinois is one of only 14 schools playing NCAA-sanctioned rugby. The NCAA currently classifies rugby as a sport for women. The NCAA has never governed mens rugby and this is a list of the champions since 2000
11.
Bobby Bowden
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Robert Cleckler Bowden is a retired American football coach. He coached the Florida State Seminoles football team from the 1976 to 2009 seasons, after a difficult 2009 season and amid questioning fans, Bowden stepped down, just weeks after his 80th birthday. But he was allowed to make his final coaching appearance in the 2010 Gator Bowl game on January 1,2010, with a 33–21 victory over his former program, Florida State appealed the ruling, but the NCAA upheld it on January 5,2010. Upon final investigation by Florida State University it was determined that Bowden was to vacate 12 wins, born in Birmingham, Alabama, Bowden spent a portion of his childhood ill in bed. Bowden is the son of Bob Bowden and Sunset Bowden, when he was 13 years old, Bowden was diagnosed with rheumatic fever. After a six-month hospital stay, Bowden was confined to his bed at home for just over a year with nothing more than his imagination to pass the time. It was listening to World War II reports on the radio that began Bowdens interest in the war and it was also around this time that his love for football increased, as he would listen to University of Alabama football on Saturday mornings. He then returned to Birmingham and married his school sweetheart, Ann Estock. Today, the couple have six children and 21 grandchildren, Bobby transferred to Howard College, where he played football, baseball, ran track and became a brother in Pi Kappa Alpha. In his junior year he was elected president of Pi Kappa Alpha and that year his Alpha Pi chapter recorded the highest grade point average in the nation among all Pi Kappa Alpha chapters. His senior year he was reelected to the presidency as well as captain of the team where he garnered All-American honors at quarterback. The Howard College faculty nominated him for Whos Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges in recognition of his academic and athletic leadership, Bowden graduated from Howard in 1953. Bowden served as an assistant football coach and head track and field coach at Howard College in Birmingham and he left his alma mater to become Athletic Director as well as head football, baseball, and basketball coach at South Georgia College from 1956 to 1958. Bowden then returned to Howard as head coach, where he compiled a 31–6 record between 1959 and 1962, in 1962, Bowden went to Florida State University as an assistant coach under Head Coach Bill Peterson. Three other coaching legends who worked under Coach Peterson during this time were Bill Parcells, Joe Gibbs, Bowden left Florida State in 1965 to go to West Virginia University as an assistant under Jim Carlen. When Carlen left following the 1969 season to become coach at Texas Tech. Bowden then compiled a 42–26 record at WVU before returning to FSU as head coach in 1976, during Bowdens first year as head coach at WVU, the football team of the states other top-division school, Marshall University, were killed in a plane crash. Bowden asked NCAA permission to wear Marshall jerseys and play Marshalls final game of the 1970 season against Ohio, in memory of the victims of the crash, Mountaineers players put green crosses and the initials MU on their helmets
12.
Cortland Finnegan
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Cortland Temujin Finnegan is an American football cornerback who is currently a free agent. He played college football at Samford, and was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the round of the 2006 NFL Draft. Finnegan also played for the St. Louis Rams, Miami Dolphins, Carolina Panthers, Finnegan attended Milton High School in Milton, Florida, where he starred as safety and tailback, earning second-team All-State as a senior in 2002. He caught 22 passes for 403 yards, and also averaged 3.4 yards per rush, on defense, he recorded 65 tackles. As a junior, Cortland Finnegan was named first-team All-OVC, while starting every game at free safety and he led his team with 86 tackles, two tackles for loss, three interceptions, two passes defensed and one fumble forced. Finnegan also returned 11 kickoffs for 286 yards, Cortland Finnegan ranked first in OVC conference with 15.1 punt return average, while returning 14 punts for 212 yards and one touchdown. Ranked second in OVC conference with 25.1 kickoff return average on 15 returns for 376 yards, playing at FCS school Samford, Finnegan was unnoticed and overlooked in the 2006 NFL Draft. He displayed good speed at Samfords Pro Day, but lacked ideal height and was deemed a shaky tackler, sports Illustrated projected him to go undrafted, but Finnegan was selected by the Tennessee Titans with the seventh pick of the seventh round. He was the first Samford player drafted since Gary Fleming went 163rd overall to the Baltimore Colts in the 1969 NFL Draft and he played in all 16 games with two starts. He also tied for fourth on the team with 15 special teams tackles with one fumble recovery and he was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week for the first time for intercepting two David Garrard passes during his Week 1 performance of the 2008 season. Finnegan was a pleasant surprise for Tennessee in the 2006–07 season after starting at the beginning of the Titans six-game win streak and he made plays left and right, most notably his 92-yard fumble return against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, December 17. It was one of the 3 defensive touchdowns for the Titans in that game—a franchise record, in his NFL debut against the Jets he had a sack and forced fumble. On December 16,2008, the National Football League named Finnegan a 2009 Pro Bowl starter alongside Oakland Raiders corner Nnamdi Asomugha and it was Finnegans first and only Pro Bowl selection. In 2010, Finnegan became a member of School of the Legends, sOTLs headquarters are located in Nashville, Tennessee. He also became Titans Community Man of the Year due to his efforts and the establishment of ARK31. In September 2010, Finnegan was fined $5,000 for throwing New York Giants wide receiver Steve Smith to the ground by his helmet, in October 2010, Finnegan was fined $10,000 for unnecessary roughness after hitting Denver Broncos guard Chris Kuper after Kupers helmet was off. After this incident, the NFL warned Finnegan that similar infractions in the future would lead to increased discipline, on November 28,2010, Finnegan was involved in a helmet-throwing fist fight with Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson. Finnegan and Johnson were ejected, and each subsequently fined $25,000, Finnegan signed a five-year, $50 million deal with the St. Louis Rams on March 13,2012
13.
Jimbo Fisher
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John James Jimbo Fisher, Jr. is an American college football coach and former player. He is currently coach at Florida State University. As a senior student at Samford University, Fisher was the 1987 NCAA Division III National Player of the Year. From 2000 until 2006 he served as coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Louisiana State University. From 2007 to 2009 he was offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and, beginning in 2007, Bobby Bowden, Florida States head coach of 34 years, retired after the teams appearance in its 28th consecutive bowl game on January 1,2010. Fisher took over as head coach soon after, Florida State is Fishers first head coaching position and he led them to a 10–4 record during his first season. His inaugural year marked FSUs first 10-win season since 2003 and first appearance in the ACC Championship Game since 2005. When Bowden left for Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, Fisher transferred with him to play his final season for the Bulldogs where he was named Division III National Player of the Year, Fisher still holds multiple school records at Samford. Fisher played a season in the Arena Football League in 1988 for the Chicago Bruisers and he was subsequently hired as the full-time offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. After two seasons, Fisher moved with Bowden to Auburn University where he coached quarterbacks alongside Terry Bowden, at Auburn, Fisher coached several successful quarterbacks including Patrick Nix, who would later serve as offensive coordinator at Georgia Tech and Miami. He continued at Auburn until Tommy Tuberville took over as coach following Terry Bowdens 1998 mid-season resignation. Fisher coached quarterbacks and was the coordinator for one season at Cincinnati before joining Nick Sabans new staff at LSU in 2000. When Saban left for the NFLs Miami Dolphins Fisher remained at LSU to continue his role with Les Miles, at LSU he helped to develop a number of outstanding college quarterbacks, including Josh Booty, Rohan Davey, Matt Mauck, and JaMarcus Russell. His contract initially guaranteed a base salary of $215,000 with incentives increasing the total package into the low $400,000 range. After his first season as offensive coordinator at Florida State, Fisher was named coach in waiting, making him the eventual successor for Bobby Bowden. The new contract paid Fisher around $600,000 per year with a $2.5 million buyout clause, the university promised to pay $5 million to Fisher if he was not made head coach by January 2011. On December 1,2009 Bowden announced that he would retire from coaching after the Seminoles upcoming bowl game on New Years Day 2010 against West Virginia in the Gator Bowl. Fisher began selecting his coaching staff and recruiting players while preparing the team for its bowl game for the last time as a Bowden assistant, the Seminoles sent Bowden out with a victory on January 1
14.
Jaquiski Tartt
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Jaquiski Tartt is an American football safety for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. He played college football at Samford, Tartt attended Davidson High School in Mobile, Alabama. Tartt played basketball in school and did not start playing football until his senior season. Despite playing football for one season, he committed to Samford University to play college football, Tartt attended Samford from 2010 to 2014. After redshirting as a freshman, he saw his first action in 2011, as a redshirt sophomore in 2012, he became a starter and remained throughout his senior season. For his career he had 277 tackles and six interceptions, Tartt was the first player from Samford to be selected to play in the Senior Bowl. Tartt was selected with the 46th pick in the 2015 NFL draft and this makes Tartt the highest drafted Samford player in school history. As a rookie, Tartt took over as starting safety after Antoine Bethea was put on the season ending injured reserve and he recorded his first career interception in Week 14 when he picked off Johnny Manziel in the second quarter. By the end of the 2015 season, Tartt had recorded 52 solo tackles,2 sacks,1 interception,1 forced fumble, and 3 passes defensed
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Georgia Bulldogs football
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The Georgia Bulldogs football program represents the University of Georgia in the sport of American football. The Bulldogs compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and they play their home games at historic Sanford Stadium on the universitys Athens, Georgia, campus. Georgias inaugural season was in 1892, UGA claims two national championships, the AP and Coaches Polls have each voted the Bulldogs the national champion once. UGA declines to claim four national championships awarded by some selecting organizations and publications. The Bulldogs have won 14 conference championships, including 12 SEC Championships, and have appeared in 52 bowl games, the program has also produced two Heisman Trophy winners, four No.1 National Football League draft picks, and many winners of other national awards. The team is known for its history, unique traditions. Georgia was a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Georgia participated in the SIAA from its establishment in 1895 until 1921, during its tenure in the SIAA, Georgia was conference co-champion in two years,1896 and 1920. In 1921, the Bulldogs, along with 12 other teams, left the SIAA, during its time in the Southern Conference, the team never won a conference championship. In 1932, the Georgia Bulldogs left the Southern Conference to form and join the SEC, the first mention of Bulldogs in association with Georgia athletics occurred on November 28,1901, at the Georgia-Auburn football game played in Atlanta. Traditionally, the choice of a Bulldog as the UGA mascot was attributed to the alma mater of its founders and first president, Abraham Baldwin, prior to that time, Georgia teams were usually known as the Red and Black. After a 0-0 tie with Virginia in Charlottesville on Nov.6,1920, the name has been used ever since. Uga is the name of a lineage of white Bulldogs which have served as the mascot of the University of Georgia since 1956. The current mascot, Que, officially took the role of Uga X on October 23,2015, shortly before Uga IX, or Russ, deceased Ugas are interred in a mausoleum near the main entrance to Sanford Stadium. Georgia is the school to bury its past mascots inside the football stadium. Glory, Glory is the song for the Georgia Bulldogs and was sung at football games as early as the 1890s. The rally song was arranged in its current form by Georgia professor Hugh Hodgson in 1915, while Glory, Glory is the most commonly played Georgia song, the schools official fight song is Hail To Georgia which is played after field goals. Today, freshmen are no longer required to do the chore, with students, alumni, how bout them Dawgs is a slogan of recent vintage that first surfaced in the late 1970s and has become a battle cry of Bulldog fans
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2012 Samford Bulldogs football team
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The 2012 Samford Bulldogs football team represented Samford University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by sixth year head coach Pat Sullivan and played their games at Seibert Stadium. They are a member of the Southern Conference and they finished the season 7–4, 5–3 in SoCon play to finish in a three way tie for fourth place
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2013 Samford Bulldogs football team
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The 2013 Samford Bulldogs football team represented Samford University in the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by seventh year head coach Pat Sullivan and played their games at Seibert Stadium. They were a member of the Southern Conference and they finished the season 8–5, 6–2 in SoCon play to share the conference title with Chattanooga and Furman. They received a bid to the FCS Playoffs where they lost in the first round to Jacksonville State
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2014 Samford Bulldogs football team
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The 2014 Samford Bulldogs football team represented Samford University in the 2014 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by eighth year head coach Pat Sullivan and played their games at Seibert Stadium. They were a member of the Southern Conference and they finished the season 7–4, 5–2 in SoCon play to finish in a tie for second place. On December 2, head coach Pat Sullivan stepped down and he finished at Samford with an eight year record of 47–43. Source, Schedule In their first game of the season, the Bulldogs lost, in their second game of the season, the Bulldogs won, 52–0 over the Stillman Tigers. In their third game of the season, the Bulldogs won, in their fourth game of the season, the Bulldogs lost, 38–24 to the Chattanooga Mocs. In their fifth game of the season, the Bulldogs won, in their sixth game of the season, the Bulldogs lost, 24–20 to the Wofford Terriers. In their seventh game of the season, the Bulldogs won, in their eighth game of the season, the Bulldogs won, 55–0 over the Concordia Hornets. In their ninth game of the season, the Bulldogs won, in their tenth game of the season, the Bulldogs won, 20–17 over The Citadel Bulldogs. In their eleventh game of the season, the Bulldogs lost, 31–7 to the Auburn Tigers
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2015 Samford Bulldogs football team
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The 2015 Samford Bulldogs football team represented Samford University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by first year head coach Chris Hatcher and played their games at Seibert Stadium. They were a member of the Southern Conference and they finished the season 6–5, 3–4 in SoCon play to finish in a tie for fourth place
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Chattanooga Mocs football
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The Chattanooga Mocs football program is the intercollegiate college football team for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga located in the U. S. state of Tennessee. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision and are members of the Southern Conference, the schools first football team was fielded in 1904. The team plays its games at the 20,668 seat Finley Stadium. They are coached by Tom Arth, the city of Chattanooga hosted the Division I-AA Football Championship 14 times at Finley Stadium from 1997 to 2009
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The Citadel Bulldogs football
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The Citadel Bulldogs Football represent The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I FCS. The Bulldogs play in the Southern Conference, as they have since 1936, the Bulldogs are coached by Brent Thompson, who was hired on January 19,2016 to replace Mike Houston, who departed on January 18,2016 for James Madison. The Bulldogs first recorded stadium was College Park, located in the northeast corner of Hampton Park in Charleston and this field predated the current College Park at the same site, which is used as a practice facility for The Citadel Bulldogs baseball. Due to increasing attendance and the state of the stadium. This stadium was replaced with the current Johnson Hagood Stadium in 1948, the Bulldogs play their home games in Johnson Hagood Stadium, which lies just to the south of The Citadels gates in Charleston. Johnson Hagood is a 21,000 seat stadium, in which The Citadel routinely ranks in the top 25 in attendance at the FCS level. In 2001, the Altman Athletic Center opened in the end zone, complete with new home and visitors locker rooms, officials locker rooms. In 2008, The Citadel completed a re-construction of the west stands, the stands contain reserved premium seats and bleacher seats, while the tower, shared with the South Carolina National Guard, contains twelve suites, a club level, and state of the art press box. During preparation for construction, workers discovered the remains of sailors from failed test runs of the H. L. Hunley and these remains were reinterred in Magnolia Cemetery in Charleston. Beginning in 2012, The Citadel implemented a system for parking and seat selection in Johnson Hagood Stadium. The program is designed to reward long-time and large donors to The Citadel athletics by giving them preference in selecting seat, in 2016, The Citadel determined that lead paint needed remediation on the east side of the stadium. The work resulted in the entire east side being closed for the first game of the 2016 season, the capacity was thus 10,500 for the first game and about 15,000 for later games. The Board of Visitors decided to renovate the east side of the stadium. Practices are held at the Maybank Triplets Practice Facility, a turf field at the north edge of campus. The Bulldogs utilize Seignious Hall, located across from McAlister Field House for weightlifting, locker rooms, team meeting and video space, the Citadel Sports Medicine Department also utilizes Seignious Hall. Coaches from The Citadel have often targeted for larger programs. Notable former head and assistant coaches at The Citadel include Bobby Ross, Charlie Taaffe, Ellis Johnson, Frank Beamer, Al Davis, head Coaches The current coaching staff at the Citadel is, The Citadel has claimed 4 championships in the Southern Conference. The 2015 title was the first co-championship in school history,1961199220152016 Following the 1960 season, the Bulldogs played in the 1960 Tangerine Bowl defeating Tennessee Tech 27-0
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East Tennessee State Buccaneers football
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For information on all East Tennessee State University sports, see East Tennessee State Buccaneers. The East Tennessee State Buccaneers football program is the intercollegiate American football team for East Tennessee State University located in Johnson City, the team was dormant from the end of the 2003 season until being reinstated for the 2015 season. They played all of their 2015 home games, and will all but one of their 2016 home games. The remaining 2016 home game, against Western Carolina on September 17, before ETSU dropped football, it competed in NCAA Division I as a Southern Conference football program. The revived program played as an independent in 2015 before returning to the SoCon in 2016, the schools first football team was fielded in 1920, and last fielded in 2003 with a revival coming in 2015. East Tennessee State Normal School fielded its first football team in 1920, navy blue and old gold, chosen in 1911, were the school colors. The team only played five games that year including two against local school teams. W. R. Windes was the coach for the first two seasons. In 1925, the name was changed to East Tennessee State Teachers College. The athletic teams were named The Teachers, John Robinson was the head coach for the next 5 years. In 1930, the name changed again to State Teachers College. In 1932, Gene McMurray was named the head coach and he coached for 10 straight seasons until the school stopped playing due to World War II. He came back to coach the team in 1946 and his winning percentage during his 11 seasons was the highest in the history of Buc football. During his tenure, the won the Smoky Mountain Conference championship in 1938. In 1943, the name changed to East Tennessee State College. In 1952, Star Wood became head coach and he led the team for 13 seasons,1952 to 1953 and then 1955 to 1965. Coach Wood tops the list of wins with 64. From 1952 to 1956, the team made five appearances in the Burley Bowl
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Furman Paladins football
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The Furman Paladins football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the Furman University located in the state of South Carolina. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision and are members of the Southern Conference, the schools first football team was fielded in 1889. The team plays its games at the 16,000 seat Paladin Stadium. They are coached by Clay Hendrix, the Furman Paladins have won 13 Southern Conference Championships,1978,1980,1981,1982,1983,1985,1988,1989,1990,1999,2001,2004, and 2013. They were National Champions in 1988 and National Runner–Up in 1985 and 2001
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Mercer Bears football
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For information on all Mercer University sports, see Mercer Bears The Mercer Bears football program is the intercollegiate football team of Mercer University located in Macon, Georgia, United States. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision and is a member of the Southern Conference, the team plays its home games at the 10, 200-seat Tony and Nancy Moye Football and Lacrosse Complex on the universitys Macon campus. The Bears are coached by Bobby Lamb, mercers first football team was fielded in 1892, but the school did not consistently field teams until 1906. The sport was dropped in 1917 and 1918 during U. S. involvement in World War I, until 1924, the Mercer Bears were known as the Mercer Baptists. After the 1941 season, with the beginning of U. S. involvement in World War II, Mercer dropped football again, but did not resume the sport after the war. The program was reinstated after a 72-year hiatus in 2013, the first game was on August 31,2013, Georgia Tech player and later Hall of Fame coach Bill Alexander called Grice the meanest and toughest guy I ever ran across on a gridiron. Brothers Crook Smith and Phoney Smith were both stars for Mercer, famous University of Georgia football coach Wally Butts, who lead UGA to four Southeastern Conference titles and two National Championships, played end for Mercer from 1925-1928. Les Olsson, known around Mercer as Swede, was the only Mercer player from the pre-World War II era to go pro and he was part of the 1937 championship squad. On August 31,2013, Mercer played its first game since 1941 before a crowd of 12,172 spectators. The Bears opponent, Reinhardt University, also revived its football program, in a thrilling game that saw multiple lead changes, Josh Shutter helped Mercer clinch the victory with a 31-yard field goal with three seconds left in the game
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VMI Keydets football
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The VMI Keydets football team represents the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. The Keydets compete in the Southern Conference of the NCAA Division I FCS, VMI plays their home contests at 10, 000-seat Alumni Memorial Field, as they have since 1962. Historically VMIs biggest rival was Virginia Tech, today, VMIs biggest rival is the The Citadel, as the two teams have battled 70 times, with The Citadel leading the series 38–30–2. The winner of each receives an award known as the Silver Shako. The last contest occurred on November 22,2014, in which The Citadel rushed for nearly 400 yards en route to a 45–25 victory, in addition to The Citadel, VMI has minor rivalries with William & Mary and Richmond. The Tribe and the Keydets first met in 1908, and William & Mary leads that series 52–33–2, VMIs competition with Richmond goes back farther, to just their third year of existence. Richmond has won 41 games to VMIs 40, and the teams have tied five times, also, the Keydets have played Virginia and Virginia Tech 82 and 79 times, respectively. VMI football dates back to 1873 with a season, featuring a 4–2 loss to Washington. No player or coaching records are known from that game, the Keydets would not have another intercollegiate team until 1891 under coach Walter Taylor III. Taylor was the son of Walter H. Taylor, a Civil War lieutenant colonel, the Keydets went 3–0–1 in 1891, with a win and tie against Washington and Lee and defeats of St. Johns and Pantops Academy. VMI had two undefeated seasons in 1892 and 1894, and a total record of 32–10–2 during the 19th century. Although they were undefeated in 1899 by a virtue of a lone win over Washington & Lee. VMI continued to have success on the field during the early 1900s, ropers brief two-year tenure was highlighted by wins over NC State and Davidson. After several seasons of mediocrity, VMI returned to their ways in 1911 under Alpha Brummage. After Brummage left VMI for Kentucky, where he would become the football and basketball coach. VMI joined the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1918, many of the members of which formed the bulk of the Southern Conference after the disbandment in 1921. In 1920, Blandy Clarkson led VMI to its third of only four seasons with a 9–0 record. With the finished construction of Alumni Field in 1921, VMI football no longer needed to play on the Parade Ground situated in front of the barracks, the stadium was placed around the same place it is today, and was completed at a total cost of $69,000
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Western Carolina Catamounts football
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The Western Carolina Catamounts football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the Western Carolina University located in the U. S. state of North Carolina. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision and are members of the Southern Conference, the schools first football team was fielded in 1931. The team plays its games at the 13,742 seat Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium. They are coached by Mark Speir
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Wofford Terriers football
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The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision and are members of the Southern Conference. Woffords first football team was fielded in 1889, the team plays its home games at the 13,000 seat Gibbs Stadium in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The Terriers are coached by Mike Ayers, who is entering his 28th season with the team in 2015, Wofford moved from Division 2 to join the Division 1-AA Southern Conference in the 96-97 season. Since then, Wofford has won 4 Southern Conference Championships, Wofford is typically one of the strongest teams in the Southern Conference every year. Woffords best finish since moving from Division 2 was a trip to the National Semi-finals at Delaware in 2003, brenton Bersin - wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers Wofford has gone to the FCS Playoffs a total of 6 times. In 2003, Wofford appeared in the FCS Playoffs for the first time in school history, in the semi-finals, they lost to the would-be FCS Champions Delaware, and finished the season ranked #3 in the nation. The Terriers moved on to the quarterfinals in 2007 before losing to Richmond and they lost in the opening round to James Madison in 2008. In 2010, they advanced to the National Quarterfinals to face Southern Conference rival Georgia Southern and they were defeated in that game 20-23. Georgia Southern Fans taunted Wofford players, throwing bottles and trash at them. In 2011, they made it to the playoffs, losing to Northern Iowa 21-28 in the second round, in 2012, Wofford dominated visiting New Hampshire, to move on to the Quarterfinals to face would-be champions North Dakota St. Although they had chances to win, they fell 14-7. Woffords Football team has won 4 Southern Conference Championships, the first came in 2003, when Wofford finished 12-2, with a trip to face Delaware in the Division 1-AA Playoff Semifinals. The next championship came in 2007, sharing the championship with Appalachian State, Wofford would also win Conference titles in 2010 and 2012. The Terriers have appeared in the I-AA/FCS playoffs five times with an record of 6–5. The Terriers have appeared in the Division II playoffs two times with an record of 0–2
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College Football All-Southern Team
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The College Football All-Southern Team was an all-star team of college football players from the Southern United States. The honor was given annually to the best players at their respective positions and it is analogous to the All-America Team and was most often selected in newspapers. Notable pickers of All-Southern teams include John Heisman, Dan McGugin, Grantland Rice, W. A. Lambeth, Reynolds Tichenor, Nash Buckingham, Innis Brown, virginias 115–0 drubbing by Princeton in 1890 signaled footballs arrival in the south. For example, North Carolina was in both the SIAA and SAIAA at different points in its history, and Virginia Tech had one year in the SIAA. Clemson, today in the ACC, was in the SIAA, the SIAA was the oldest of these, founded in the winter of 1894 by Vanderbilt chemistry professor William Lofland Dudley. This organization really represents the south, as its scope is wider. V. P. I. can scarcely be figured in the calculation as that institution hasnt played any of the S. I. A. A. representatives. South Atlantic writers of course were not fond of this, and would sometimes critique the latest All-Southern selection with titles such as Virginia, in 1922 teams from the SIAA and SAIAA left for the Southern Conference and All-Southern teams become effectively All-Southern Conference teams. By 1933 the contemporary Southeastern Conference was established, Walter Camps annual official All-America first team had been historically loaded with college players from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Penn, and other Northeastern colleges. Many selectors picked only Eastern players, in 1894, Michigan defeated Cornell and lobbied for its center Fatty Smith to be the first Western All-American. Notably the University of Michigan claims for their center Fatty Smith the supremacy in his position, but the western institutions have not yet mastered the eastern knowledge of all the details and fine points of the game. Smith has made a record against the west and even against Cornell. When brought to face a man like the Stillman of today or the Bulliet of last year, Smith would simply be lost, so it would be with all of the claimants for line positions from western teams. And no one claims for a moment that western back field men could play in the class with eastern men. The selectors were typically Eastern writers and former players who attended games in the East. The article noted, Eastern sporting editors must be devoid of all sense of humor, what man in the lot that have picked All-American elevens this fall, saw a single game outside the North Atlantic States. With a conceit all their own they fail to recognize that the United States reaches more than 200 miles in any direction from New York, suppose an Ohio football writer picked All-American teams. Ohio readers would not stand for it, but apparently the eastern readers will swallow anything
